Essential Guide To Offshore Web Developer Salary Vietnam Vs Philippines Vs India

Getting a web developer salary right can be extremely difficult. There are just too many factors to take into consideration, especially when you try to hire offshore tech talent from another country such as Vietnam, the Philippines, or India.

The three countries are all hot spots for offshoring your software development and hiring affordable but experienced web developers. So we are often asked by our clients to give them insights on the developer salary expectation from each market.

But before getting into the data you’ve been waiting for, let’s set the proper way to look at it. 

 

Web Developer Salary Based On Role

There are several different web developer roles but the majority of our client hires focus into three main specializations: frontend, backend, and full-stack.

Frontend Developer

Frontend developers are all about designing user interfaces for websites, combining elements of both design and programming. 

The growing complexity of frontend development in recent years has pushed the demand for skilled developers with different focuses and skill sets toward specific business requirements. 

Backend Developer

Backend developers work on server-side tasks, making sure everything runs smoothly behind the scenes. It is commonly believed that back end positions come with higher salaries than front-end developers.

However, we believe that there are not many differences between them in terms of salaries. Instead, clients just tend to hire a more experienced developer when it comes to backend positions. 

Full-Stack Developer

A full-stack developer does both frontend and backend work and has a deep understanding of both. Our clients often pick full-stack developers for the team leader position so this is usually their first hire during the team-building phase.

Unsurprisingly, their salary expectation will be higher compared to the rest.

 

Web Developer Salary Based On Experience

Junior Web Developer

Junior developers, experience-wise, are considered to have less than 2-3 years of experience in any given technology and require supervision with most tasks. For offshore software development, they are often the last hires as our clients want to privatize filling in the team leader position first.

Mid-level Web Developer

The majority of our client’s tech team members are mid-level developers who have more than 2-3 years of experience under their belt and are able to be independently productive. Thus, their salaries also are around 30% ~ 50% higher than junior developers.

Senior Web Developer

At the other end of the spectrum are senior web developers, who’re responsible for mentoring junior team members and have experience in delivering a working product whilst adhering to the required deadlines of a project.

Depending on the workplace, they can also be considered project leads and are expected to make contributions to architectural issues. Designing solutions is arguably part of their repertoire, however, these proposals still require analysis and approval before being implemented.

As a result, the pay rate also increases substantially for senior levels, often double the amount of mid-level developer salary. 

 

Offshore Web Developer Salary In Vietnam vs Philippines vs India

Average Salary Of Web Developer In Vietnam

Average Salary Of Web Developer In Philippines

Average Salary Of Web Developer In India

The Best Country For Hiring Offshore Web Developer

Best Quality Developer

India is undoubtedly among the leading countries in the field of software development outsourcing thanks to its enormous IT talent pool and infrastructure, with different skill levels that combine to provide great value to any company. 

However, they are not among the best low-cost destinations anymore. According to the salary table above, the average salary of web developers in India is at least 25% higher than in Vietnam. 

Their third-party services are also considered much more expensive compared to Vietnam and the Philippines. Thus, resulting in significant expenditure to execute any offshore tech hiring or software development outsourcing in India.   

So if you are an SME with a limited budget, India is not a very ideal place.

 

Advantages

• • Enormous IT talent pool
  • Skilled developers
  • Developers are proficient in English

Disadvantages

• • Skilled Developers are much more expensive compared to Vietnam and the Philippines
  • Third-party service providers are costly compared to their ASIAN competitors
  • Not a very ideal place for SME to scale up their tech operation, especially if they are based in ASIAN

 

Best “Developer Salary” Cost-Wise

Philippines Web Developers have the lowest salary rate, staying at 15% cheaper than Vietnam on average. Additionally, they are fluent in using English with a great understanding of Western Culture thanks to their cultural background. As a result, they are a great choice for SMEs from the EU or any business that wants to hire the cheapest developers possible.

Unfortunately, the country’s tech talent pool is not the richest, often focusing heavily on front-end and mobile development. So businesses that are looking for niche skills such as blockchain or machine learning will have a much more difficult time.

The Philippines is also struggling with its economy and digitalization transformation, resulting in a lower-skill level of IT labor, ranking below nearby countries such as India, and Vietnam. 

Moreover, There are 18 non-working holidays in the Philippines. Also, since most Filipinos are Catholics, the Holy Wee represents the most extended holiday within the country. These extended breaks could be quite costly, especially when working on time-sensitive projects.

 

Advantages

• • The most affordable developer for hire
  • Developers are fluent in English 
  • Great destination if you are SME from EU

Disadvantages

• • Developers have lower-skills levels compared to India and Vietnam so businesses will have to spend more time to find the good ones.
  • Tech talent pool is low and lack skill diversity when compared to its ASIA neighbors 
  • Long extended holiday that can affect project progress

 

Best Performance/Cost Option

Vietnam is currently at a sweet spot where its web developers are highly skilled with a strong tech background but still more cost-effective compared to other great offshore software development destinations. In fact, they cost around 25%~30% less than Indian developers while are considered higher than the Philippines developers in terms of skill-wise and availability. 

But the greatest thing about Vietnam is its advantage in cost-effectiveness for offshore recruiting services. Even when you benchmark the tech recruitment process in Vietnam against India and the Philippines, Vietnam actually still achieves a 50% cost-saving compared to India and a 30% cost-saving compared to the Philippines. All thanks to their low living cost, competitive currency, and friendly business regulations that allow employers to take full advantage of hiring low-cost labor.

Therefore, We believe that Vietnam is the best option out of the three for SMEs that want to secure a great offshore team at optimal cost.

It is worth mentioning that Vietnamese web developers do not process the high-level proficiency in English as India or the Philippines. Thus, businesses will need to overcome the communication barrier to get the most out of them.

 

Advantages

• • Very affordable developer for hire
  • Experience developers with high skills level 
  • A great destination for SMEs to scale up their offshore tech team

Disadvantages

• • Communication barriers as developers are not fluent in English
  • Not the ideal option if you only care about the highest skill or the cheapest hires

 

Conclusion – Only Hire Base On Your Goal

There’s no doubt that they are all great destinations for hiring offshore web developers. However, to maximize the result, each business will have to evaluate its business situation and scale up its goals. 

More importantly, it is crucial to set up your offshore tech team correctly in order to take advantage of the cost difference. For startups and SMEs that are unfamiliar with Vietnam, we recommend you to seek professional support from trusted vendors that specialize in offshore ventures and recruiting Vietnamese developers.